Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To pinch; compress; stop up by pressure; clog.
  • To pinch with hunger; starve.
  • To die of hunger; starve.
  • A variant of cleam.
  • Same as clam.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • verb obsolete To starve; to famish.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive or intransitive To be hungry.
  • noun Geordie, vulgar, slang A testicle.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Confer clam ("to clog"), or German klemmen ("to pinch"), Icelandic klmbra, English clamp.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly from clementine, a small round citrus fruit.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word clem.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "You can't swing a cat without hitting some kind of demonic activity. Not that I swing cats. Or eat-- nope. Cutting way back. Cholesterol-- morals. I mean morals"

    - Clem, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 7

    December 20, 2007

  • you actually can if the cat is inside a barrel.

    In Denmark more traditional aspects include slå katten af tønden ("hit the cat out of the barrel"), which is somewhat similar to a piñata, except that there is a wooden barrel, which is full of candy and has the image of a cat on it. Historically there was a real black cat in the barrel, and beating it was superstitiously considered a safeguard against evil. After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning ("queen of cats"), the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge ("king of cats").

    December 20, 2007

  • That must be the kind of cat Clem eats. Not the fluffy type. Nope. Not at all.

    December 20, 2007

  • also, slang: to starve.

    July 27, 2008